When I read these America bashing threads, I am reminded of Mr. Gordon Sinclair's 1973 radio editorial...

"LET'S BE PERSONAL" Broadcast June 5, 1973 CFRB, Toronto, Ontario

Topic: "The Americans"

The United States dollar took another pounding on German, French and British exchanges this morning, hitting the lowest point ever known in West Germany. It has declined there by 41% since 1971 and this Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least-appreciated people in all the world.

As long as sixty years ago, when I first started to read newspapers, I read of floods on the Yellow River and the Yangtse. Well, Who rushed in with men and money to help? The Americans did, that's who.

They have helped control floods on the Nile, the Amazon, the Ganges and the Niger. Today, the rich bottom land of the Mississippi is under water and no foreign land has sent a dollar to help. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy, were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of those countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.

When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. And I was there. I saw that.

When distant cities are hit by earthquakes, it is the United States that hurries into help... Managua Nicaragua is one of the most recent examples. So far this spring, 59 American communities have been flattened by tornadoes. Nobody has helped.

The Marshall Plan... the Truman Policy... all pumped billions upon billions of dollars into discouraged countries. And now, newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent war-mongering Americans.

I'd like to see one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplanes.

Come on... let's hear it! Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tristar or the Douglas 10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all international lines except Russia fly American planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or a women on the moon?

You talk about Japanese technocracy and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy and you find men on the moon, not once, but several times ... and safely home again. You talk about scandals and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even the draft dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are right here on our streets in Toronto, most of them... unless they are breaking Canadian laws... are getting American dollars from Ma and Pa at home to spend here.

When the Americans get out of this bind... as they will... who could blame them if they said 'the hell with the rest of the world'. Let someone else buy the bonds, let someone else build or repair foreign dams or design foreign buildings that won't shake apart in earthquakes.

When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both of them are still broke. I can name to you 5,000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble.

Can you name to me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.

Our neighbours have faced it alone and I am one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their noses at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles.

I hope Canada is not one of these. But there are many smug, self-righteous Canadians. And finally, the American Red Cross was told at its 48th Annual meeting in New Orleans this morning that it was broke.

This year's disasters... with the year less than half-over... has taken it all and nobody... but nobody... has helped.

Illini: Ditto to that. I sometimes think that if we did just let other countries fend for themselves, just for a while, maybe we would get a tiny bit more respect for what we have done. Sometimes you dont know what you had until its gone.

But you dont help others for the praise, you help them for the sake of helping others. But, to those foreigners who have stuck by the US, and havent bashed us into the ground, I say Thank You.

I can freely bash the US government anytime I choose. I am an american citizen and I vote therefore bashing my own government is good. I do not have the same freedom for other countries though. They made their own choices and can do their own bashing.

The US was not there for the UK when Irish terrorists killed British civilians in Birmingham, Warrington, London, Belfast and Armagh ... using weapons and explosives bought and paid for by Americans.

The US was not there for the UK when Argentina invaded the Falklands.

The US was not there for the people of Sebrenica; or Sarajevo; or countless other towns and villages in the former Jugoslavia - British and other European forces were, but in the absence of promised US air support, could do nothing.

The reason that the US was attacked - rather than the UK, France, Germany, or any other country was because of its policies of interference in the affairs of other countries for its own, self-interested, reasons - in particular its blind support for Israel, regardless of the horrific crimes against humanity perpetrated by the IDF.

Europe has never been - and will probably never be - a target for Islamic extremists because they can see that the Europeans are generally not biased against their fellow Muslims as the Americans are.

Your allies are happy to stand by you - despite your own often wavering support of us - but you need to learn lessons from this. Yours might be the largest economy in the world, but that does not give you the divine right to do whatever you want, wherever you want. If your invasion of Iraq goes ahead, I suspect that you will end up reaping a whirlwind of extraordinary strength ... and causing much heartache to hundreds of thousands - if not millions - of people.

B-OTCH, the world WAS there last year. But the rest of the world has moved on, despite the casualties they too suffered, and is getting on with life.
Only the US has given in to the terrorists in letting their entire lifes be determined by the events of that single day.

Maybe it is because it is a first for you, where the rest of the world has suffered it for decades. Maybe it is your more sentimental nature.
But never say the rest of the world wasn't there for you.

SAS23, if you hadn't invoked Israel in your post I would have applauded you.
Apart from those few lines, you quite well express what I was thinking.
Usually I don't agree with you, but it seems we do have some common ground after all.

L-188, those missiles were delivered to the UK before the invasion. They were not supplied to "kick some Argentinian ass" or whatever you want to call it, but in exchange for hard cash.
The USA did nothing to support the UK in their attempts to liberate the Falklands from foreign occupation. Unlike when Iraq invaded Kuwait there were no carriers sent to the area, no marines to storm ashore.
No cruise missiles were fired at Argentinas military installations (would have been hard at the time, but other weapons were available).
I'm not criticising the US for that (I don't know if support was asked and if so which support) but the fact remains.

B-OTCH, the world WAS there last year. But the rest of the world has moved on, despite the casualties they too suffered, and is getting on with life.
Only the US has given in to the terrorists in letting their entire lifes be determined by the events of that single day.

I'm sure that if these attacks happened in your soil Jwenting, and changed your way of life forever, you might have a different view of the events of that day, and why the U.S. remembers, not forgets this incident.

L-188, those missiles were delivered to the UK before the invasion. They were not supplied to "kick some Argentinian ass" or whatever you want to call it, but in exchange for hard cash.
The USA did nothing to support the UK in their attempts to liberate the Falklands from foreign occupation.

Despite being great allies, that does not mean that WE have to be involved with the UK on every military action they do, and vice versa.

The usa did not help us in the falklands, we didnt help the usa in vietnam.

"The US was not there for the UK when Irish terrorists killed British civilians in Birmingham, Warrington, London, Belfast and Armagh ... using weapons and explosives bought and paid for by Americans. "

Well, you see the spinnings as good as ever, any day of the year you an rely on it. now heres the truth from someone who has actually studied irish history and from someone whos half irish.

The war on terror against al-queda isnt the same as the ira campaign.the ira didnt have a country supporting them, the republic of ireland was just as strong as the uk in arresting and clamping down on terror, this is also the different between northern ireland and the israel-palestine conflict. the ira also had foes on the oher side, loyalists terrorists who also killed innocent civilains,these recieved no backing from the uk or irish goverment, therefore i fail to see what sas23 wanted the usa to do? bomb southern ireland? bomb belfast, what did he want it to do?

afhanistan wasnt the same, you have a regime who wouldnt give over the terrorists, who allowed terror training camps and who commited dreadful human rights abuses, neither the uk nor the irish did this.

The americans were involved in the peace process, they helped to bring both sides together(sas23 conveintly forgot to mention george mitchell), however they knew that the uk and the irish could sort itout because we are both, peaceful democracies.

theres al-queda terrorists in the far east but you dont see the us bombing indonesia, malayisa etc, why because those goverments clamp down on the terrorists and have asked the us to help them, so the usa provides troops if they want it, cia agents, aid etc etc to fight groups that are linked to al-queda.

the usa didnt need to be involved full time in northern ireland.

now onto the raising of finance, you see what sas23 left out was the fact that the american goverment didnt raise money for sinn fein ira.What USED to happen is that collectors would be in the street, particularly in boston collecting for a 'poor irish war widow' whos husband had been shot dead by the british, naturally the dollars flowed in and found their way to the ira.

now sas23, who wouldnt give money to a collector who asks for aid because of a poor war widow. You ask for aid to the palestinians, well were do you think some of that aid goes, do you think it all goes to the poor palestinians 'war widows'???????

"The US was not there for the people of Sebrenica; or Sarajevo; or countless other towns and villages in the former Jugoslavia "

whos fault is that? could it be because the europeans thought they could fight their own war?

Now i ask you some questions sas23

who was there for us in World War One after the russians collapsed? The USA
Who gave aid after World War one? the usa
who gave us aid in a war in which america wasnt under threat but we were
(WW2 before pearl harbour)? the usa
Who fought with us to liberate europe? the usa
which country after invading western europe then left it and restorted democracy? the usa

for all the chares against the usa, acting imperialist etc etc people seem to forget that theusa was in control of european countries and it let them free, another world power(the ussr) didnt, so who would the europeans have rather resuced them? america or russia?

who then gave aid to europe to rebuild it?the usa

who also gave control back to countries in aisa? the usa
the usa let china get on with it, it helped rebuild japan as well

"If your invasion of Iraq goes ahead, I suspect that you will end up reaping a whirlwind of extraordinary strength ... and causing much heartache to hundreds of thousands - if not millions - of people. "

americas invading no-one, un military action against Saddam hussien not the iraqi people may take place, through an air war.since you worked in the military you should be aware of that.look at the gulf war a few days of ground invasion, further more did the usa invade kosovo, in fact which country wanted to invade kosovo? OURS SAS23!

in fact the counry whos threaternign to invade another at the moment is russia whos threaterning georgia because of the checen rebels.

Did the usa invade afghanistan straight away? erm no, the colation bomb it and which was the first country with troops into afghanistan? was it the usa? no, who was it? The UK.

I would suspect that leaving saddam in power would reap a whirlwind of extraordinary strength, causing heartache and death to hundreds of millions of people through an iraqi attack on its neighbours, including iran, israel and turkey throught he use of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclearsince iraq is months away according to the independent IISS from having a nuclear bomb, which it will not rest to achieve since its spent 10 billion us dollars already on it.

as for the israel stuff, change the record, no ones listerning, theres two sides to that conflict and if the usa had blind support for israel it wouldnt demand that it withdraws to pre 1967 borders nor would it have pulled the reins in in the gulf war, nor would the usa pulled the reins in a few months back when israel overreacted, invade the paletinian areas and was forced to withdraw just hours later after the usa hit the roof.

you people have certainly a lot of time to waste speculating on which country is there for which other.
by the way, as you seem to love history to get back as far as the 1492.

No seriously... Can't you see that every European government is supporting the US, at different levels, but still supporting. Same for Oz and NZ. And I do not mean only UK, Germany and France but also Italy, spain, portugal, Ireland... To my knowledge, no "western" country has expressed satisfaction to what happened on Sept. 11th.

Now, if you are taking into account the minority of morons (and you'll find them in EVERY country) that are deliberatly anti-US; please be smart enough to find that they are not expressing the general attitude. I have read all those threads about that moron French writer who published this book about the plot theory. I can tell that he has a VERY VERY low credit among French people who believe he is just some provocative idiot that is looking for media interest.

Europe has never been - and will probably never be - a target for Islamic extremists because they can see that the Europeans are generally not biased against their fellow Muslims as the Americans are

I would not be so sure, SAS23, some Islamic plots against French objectives have been uncovered in the past. The Maghreb Islamists are not exactly happy with the support that the Argelian govt get from the EU countries, especially France and Spain.
As for the Falklands war, you cannot say that the UK was not helped by the USA. There were no US marines, Navy or aircraft involved (the UK alone had enough military forces to regain the Islands), but they got other valuable help. If not, why the UK does have a foreign policy always in sync with the US since 1982??

SAS23, Get your facts straight. The EU has long been plagued by terrorism.

The number of lethal terrorist incidents in Europe declined from 46 in 1994 to 11 in 1995, although the total number of incidents rose from 88 to 272. In Eurasia, however, the total number dropped from 11 in 1994 to five in 1995. Most of the terrorist incidents that occurred in Europe and Eurasia were acts of arson or vandalism against Turkish-owned businesses largely in Germany. These acts are widely believed to be the work of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK); several European nations permit the PKK to operate known front companies within their borders.

Islamic extremists upset with French Government policy toward the conflict in Algeria are suspected of being responsible for terrorist bombings in France during 1995 that left eight dead and 160 wounded. The bombers targeted subways, markets, and other public places to achieve a maximum effect. Islamic extremists also probably conducted a car bombing in front of police headquarters in Rijeka, Croatia, which killed the driver of the car. The Egyptian al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group or IG) claimed responsibility.

Radical nationalism and xenophobia provoked a campaign of letter bombs directed at foreigners in Austria and in Germany, where neo-Nazi violence against foreigners continued. The terrorist group Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) continued its campaign of murder and intimidation in Spain, including an attack on Partido Popular leader Jose Maria Aznar, and Spanish police in August foiled a plot to assassinate King Juan Carlos. In Greece the indigenous leftist Revolutionary Organization 17 November and other domestic terrorist groups continued to threaten US and Turkish diplomats and to target Greek business interests.

In Turkey, the PKK continued to engage in terrorism with the goal of creating a separate state. In addition, Marxist terrorist groups and Islamist radicals conducted terrorist attacks aimed at official Turkish interests and progovernment figures. The Marxist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front, known by the Turkish initials DHKP/Cùthe successor to the group formerly known as Dev Solùapparently continued to target US interests. The PKK also continued to attack sites frequented by US and other tourists but at a level sharply reduced from its height in 1993.

Austria

Attacks on foreigners that began in 1993 continued in 1995, killing four and injuring another 11 persons, including two in neighboring Germany. In June a third series of letter bombs linked to neo-Nazi elements included two that were mailed from Austria to an Austrian-born black TV commentator in Munich and to the mayor of Luebeck, injuring colleagues of the intended victims. The letters carried the logo of the Bajuwarian Liberation Front (also known as the Bavarian Liberation Army), an obscure rightwing group that had claimed responsibility for a number of attacks in Austria. In December another round of bombings was timed to try to embarrass Austrian authorities. Two of four letter bombs in a public mailbox exploded as the trial of two rightwing suspects in the bombings of December 1993 was wrapping up. (They were acquitted.)

On 20 September a leftwing group called the Red Daughters of Rage firebombed a German pharmaceutical firm in Vienna that was hosting US visitors and flying a US flag. The group claimed the firm was affiliated with a US genetic company that they alleged was involved in forced sterilization in developing countries. A leftwing group calling itself the Cell for Internationalism claimed responsibility for a similar firebombing the next day against the American International School. The same group claimed it was also involved in a firebombing on 20 December against an American Express office in Salzburg.

In February, Austrian officials released suspected Abu Nidal terrorist Bahij Younis from a Vienna prison, where he had served 13 years for complicity in the murder in 1981 of the president of the Austro-Israeli Society Nittel in Vienna. Younis is also believed to have masterminded the attack against a synagogue in Vienna in 1981. In March, Austria extradited to Belgium Rajeh Heshan Mohamed Baghdad, a PLO terrorist sentenced to life in 1982 for his role in a murder and terrorist attack in 1981.

Croatia

A car bomb detonated outside police headquarters in Rijeka on 20 October, injuring 29 bystanders and killing the driver of the car. The Egyptian organization al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya (also known as the Islamic Group or IG) claimed responsibility for the bombing. The car bomb was detonated to press Croatian authorities into releasing IG spokesman Tala'at Fuad Kassem, who had been detained by Croatian police in Zagreb on 12 September. After the bombing, Croatian authorities said Kassem was no longer in the country.

France

A series of terrorist incidents in France in 1995 appeared to be the work of Algerian extremists. In July a cofounder of the Algerian opposition group Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), Abdelbaki Sahraoui, was murdered in Paris. Suspicion focused on another Algerian opposition group, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which had earlier put Sahraoui on a "death list" for his supposed conciliatory posture toward the Algerian Government.

A blast on 25 July in a Paris metro station kicked off a campaign of eight bombings or attempted bombings in France. Eight people were killed and 160 wounded in the attacks, which were staged in train stations, markets, and other public places to maximize civilian casualties. Although there were various claims of responsibility for the blasts, suspicions centered on the violent Islamic opposition to the Algerian Government. Some commentators argued that the GIA wanted to punish the Government of France for its supposed support for the Algerian Government; others claimed that the bombings were in retribution for the killing of four Algerian hijackers of an Air France Airbus in December 1994.

French police achieved a breakthrough in September when they traced fingerprints found on an unexploded bombùdiscovered on high-speed train tracks near Lyonùto a French citizen of Algerian descent, Khaled Kelkal. The police killed Kelkal in a shootout later that month. In November fingerprints found on another unexploded device and other information led police to arrest several more people of North African descent, two of whom were formally charged with involvement in the bombings. There were no additional terrorist blasts in 1995 following these arrests. The French judiciary may reveal more about its understanding of the structure behind the crimes when the judicial cases against the accused come to trial.

In August assailants threw a molotov cocktail at a Turkish sporting and cultural association in Paris, injuring six and causing minor damage. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) probably is responsible.

Georgia

On 29 August unidentified assailants attempted to assassinate President Eduard Schevardnadze by detonating a car bomb near his motorcade as it left the presidential compound in T'bilisi. Schevardnadze suffered minor injuries, but four of his bodyguards were injured, one seriously.

Six armed men detonated a small bomb in front of the residence of the Russian Ambassador to Georgia on 9 April, shattering windows and causing minor damage to nearby houses. The Algeti Wolves claimed responsibility for that attack and for an armed assault two hours later on Russian troops in the city, citing Russian involvement in Chechnya as the reason for both attacks. There were no injuries.

Germany

Authorities continued to pursue and prosecute Red Army Faction (RAF) members. In September, a German court sentenced RAF member Sieglinde Hofmann to life imprisonment for assisting in five murders and three attempted murders, including the bomb attack in 1979 in Belgium on then- NATO Commander Alexander Haig. In October, Johannes Weinrich, a former RAF member and alleged deputy to international terrorist Illych Ramirez Sanchez (Carlos), was indicted in Berlin for transporting explosives into Germany that were later used to bomb the French cultural center; Weinrich had been extradited to Germany from Yemen. Germany released several former RAF terrorists who had served from 11 to 20 years of their sentences.

Although German officials say the RAF has largely disintegrated, they worry about successor organizations that have assumed the RAF's ideological mantle. The emerging Anti-Imperialist Cells (AIZ), for example, mounted several bombing attacks against German interests in 1995. Among far-right groups, German authorities noted an increasing tendency to link up with neo-Nazi groups abroad, especially through the use of electronic communication networks.

The number of arson attacks with proven or probable connections to foreign extremist groups were more than five times those carried out in 1994, largely because of two waves of attacks in March-April and July- August by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). In more than 200 attacks on Turkish establishmentsùsome of which may have been "copycat" attacks perpetrated by antiforeigner Germans rather than the PKKùtwo foreigners died and several others were injured. Although Germany banned the PKK and several associated Kurdish organizations in 1993, new PKK front organizations appear frequently in Germany, thus presenting a continuing problem for the government.

Attacks against US interests were rare, although US-owned Chrysler dealerships were targeted to protest the scheduled execution in the United States of convicted murderer Mumia Abu Jamal. In Kassel, vandals smashed car and showroom windows, and, elsewhere, the Anti-Imperialistic Group Liberty for Mumia Abu Jamal claimed responsibility for firebombing a vehicle parked outside a dealership.

In November a group calling itself Anti-Imperialist Freedom Connection for Benjamin claimed responsibility for setting fire to and destroying a vehicle belonging to a German-Spanish automobile joint venture; the claim letter protested the deportation trial of Benjamin Ramos-Vega, a member of the Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) terrorist group.

Greece

Greek leftist and anarchist groups in 1995 again conducted numerous terrorist attacks against public and private Greek and foreign targets. The Revolutionary Organization 17 November, for example, fired two rockets at a MEGA TV station facility in March, causing extensive damage but no casualties. Greek terrorist groups also conducted several operations against foreign interests, including the August bombings of the American Express and Citibank offices in Athens.

Greece had some counterterrorist successes in 1995, including the successful conviction of Georgios Balafas, a suspected 17 November terrorist sentenced to 10 years in prison for stockpiling weapons. Greek counterterrorist efforts, however, could benefit from the passage of tougher, more comprehensive counterterrorist regulations. Since 1975 no one has been convicted of any of 17 November's terrorist attacks, including the murder of four US officials and a Greek employee of the US Embassy. While official statements indicate the government's resolve to confront Greece's domesticterrorist problem, frequent turnover of key personnel involved in the fight against terrorismùthree public order ministers in the past yearùhampers these efforts.

Greek authorities continued in 1995 to deny public Turkish charges that the anti-Turkish Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) conducts operational terrorist training and receives assistance in Greece. As is the case in certain other European countries, however, Greece permits the PKK to operate a known front organization in Athens. In May it also allowed the successor group to Dev Sol, another anti-Turkish and anti-US terrorist group, to open an office in Athens under its new name, the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C).

Italy

In the culmination of what journalists said was a two-year investigation, Milan police arrested 11 persons on 26 June at Milan's Islamic Center and made additional arrests a few days later. Police officials told the press that the group provided support for an international network of Islamic terrorist organizations, including the Egyptian al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group or IG). A police spokesman also said the arrestees maintained contact with the "Blind Shaykh," Umar Abd al-Rahman, who was convicted in October for conspiring to commit terrorism in the United States. Charges against the accused include conspiracy, extortion, armed robbery, falsifying documents, and arms smuggling.

On the basis of a French warrant, Italian police arrested former Red Army Faction member Margo Froehlich in October. A German national, she was wanted for complicity in a Paris attack in 1982 carried out by international terrorist Illych Ramirez Sanchez (Carlos) that killed one person and injured 63.

Russia

On the afternoon of 13 September, a rocket-propelled grenade hit the sixth floor of the US Embassy in Moscow. The grenade penetrated the wall and exploded inside, causing some damage to office equipment but no casualties. No group claimed responsibility.

In December 1995, Russia participated in a first-of-its-kind counterterrorism ministerial conference that was called by the heads of the G-7 nations plus Russia at their June summit in Halifax.

Spain

In 1995, Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) terrorists conducted attacks on Spanish rail lines and stations, banks, police officers, and political figuresùincluding the assassination of the Partido Popular mayoral candidate in San Sebastian and the attempted assassination of the leading contender for the prime ministership. In addition, ETA targeted French interests in Spain in 1995. In February a suspected ETA bomb exploded at a French-owned bank. Following a joint Spanish-French operation that thwarted a plot to assassinate King Juan Carlos while he vacationed in Majorca last August, suspected ETA members or supporters tossed molotov cocktails at a Citroen car dealership in Navarre, destroying five vehicles. In mid-December suspected ETA members detonated a car bomb in Madrid, one of the worst attacks in years that claimed at least six lives and wounded 15others.

Turkey

Turkey continued its vigorous pursuit of several violent leftist and Islamic extremist groups, especially the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), responsible for terrorism in Turkey.

The PKK launched hundreds of attacks in 1995 in Turkey, including indiscriminate bombings in areas frequented by Turkish and foreign civilians, as part of its campaign to establish a breakaway state in southeastern Turkey. For example, the group set off a bomb outside a cafe/grocery store in Izmir on 17 September, killing five and wounding 29. The PKK also continuedùalbeit with less successùits three-year-old attempt to drive foreign tourists away from Turkey by attacking tourist sites. In August two US citizens were injured by shrapnel in a bombing of Istanbul's popular Taksim Square. Moreover, the PKK continued to expand its activities in Western Europe, especially in Germany, where its members frequently attacked ethnic Turks and Turkish commercial establishments.

A successor to the Marxist/Leninist Devrimci Sol (Dev Sol)ùknown as the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C)ùand several Islamic extremist groups were active in 1995. Dev Sol has been responsible for several anti-US attacks since 1990, and the DHKP/C continues to target US citizens. In July the group took over a restaurant in Istanbul, holding several civiliansùincluding three US touristsùhostage. All of the hostages eventually were released unharmed. Loosely organized Islamic extremist groups, such as the Islamic Movement Organization and IBDA-C, continued to launch attacks against targets associated with Turkish official facilities and functions. They may have been responsible for the attempted assassination in June of a prominent Jewish community leader in Ankara.

Ukraine

On 24 May, an explosive device detonated near the Austrian Airlines office in the Odessa airport in southern Ukraine. Austrian Airlines is the only Western airline that flies out of Odessa. Press reports said the device consisted of about six pounds of plastic explosive. There were no injuries. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which may not have been politically motivated.

United Kingdom

The cease-fires begun in the autumn of 1994, led by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) and followed by other Republican splinter groups and the three major Loyalist paramilitaries, still held at year's end. Nevertheless, sporadic incidents of politically motivated killings, arson, attempted bombings, punishment beatings, and abductions were reported. No progress was made on the decommissioning of weapons, and paramilitaries were combat ready. In November, Irish and British police forces intercepted a van loaded with hundreds of pounds of explosives in Ireland near the border with Northern Ireland. Authorities believe a Republican fringe group known as the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) was intending to attack British security forces in Northern Ireland. A subsequent police sweep of the area discovered another cache of explosives and bombmaking equipment at a farm a few miles from the first operation.

In January an unidentified assailant shot and killed a Sikh newspaper editor. The victim may have been killed because of his support for an independent Sikh state in India. No one claimed responsibility.

A British court ruled on 25 July to extradite Kani Yilmaz, European chief of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), to Germany, where he faces charges of conspiracy to commit arson. The ruling sparked a large crowd of PKK supporters to battle London police, pelting them with bottles, bricks, and road signs, injuring more than a dozen police officers and an unknown number of others. The United Kingdom permits the PKK to operate a known front organization within its borders.

[End of Document]

Also, Islam is not the only mode of terrorism. And yes, most of these people were politically motivated, AGAINST GOVERNMENTS OF EUROPEAN COUNTRIES!!!!!!!!! Maybe they should change their governmental policies????!!!!

These statistics were taken in 1995, only one year and so many terrorist incidents SAS23, I don't think the US has had that many terrorist incidents. HMMMM......maybe you should contemplate your beloved Europe's policies......BTW, I'm so sick of your negative attitude towards the US. I think you just sit at home all day thinking of ways to belittle and antagonize American members of A.net. It gets extremely old.

UAL747

25 Rai
: France, Italy and Spain have had a long history of Islamic terrorism. This is not just an US problem, like SAS23 purports.

26 David_itl
: UAL747, since when is the IRA an "Islamic Extremist" group which I believe SAS23 wrote about? No-one's denying that there have been terrorist attacks

27 Go Canada!
: yes i agree david, however the report also states of attacks in europe from muslims/and/or arabs, sas23 stated that europe's never been affected by it

28 Jcs17
: SAS23, did you ever think that if your country actually kept Grenada in line, we never would have had to invade it?

29 Go Canada!
: and another one, the al-queda plot to blow up ships in gibralter a uk colony on the spainish main land, which targetted american and british ships, it

30 David_itl
: Jcs17, what do you mean "kept Grenada in line"? Do you mean have policies which the US would find more appropriate? What would be the point of being

31 Go Canada!
: "If a plane would have been flown into Parliament" the uk WAS there for you.

32 UAL747
: David, since when did I say my list was limited to Islamic Funamentalists? I put an entire list to show SAS23 that other groups have plotted and perfo

33 Clipperhawaii
: B-OTCH, you were right on target with this post. The facts are undeniable. We all know that the contributions of the U.S. FAR outweigh any faults this

34 Rai
: Also, didn't Algerian Islamic extremests hijack a French plane and try to force the captain to ram it into the Eifel Tower a few years ago? That suppo

35 SAS23
: As a sovereign nation, Grenada is perfectly able to do whatever they like. Just because the US doesn't happen to get on with the Cubans does not mean

36 Rai
: Europe has never been - and will probably never be - a target for Islamic extremists because they can see that the Europeans are generally not biased

37 B-OTCH
: If you are not an American, you don't understand. Again, thanks for your support.

38 Go Canada!
: "However, a number of the groups that you mentioned - especially those linked to Northern Ireland - do much of their fundraising and sourcing of milit

39 Rolex01
: Most of the shock came not so much from the event itself but that the US was no longer immune to terrorist acts. How do you know that SAS23? Are you A

40 GDB
: Jwenting your wrong. In April 1982 the RN Sea Harriers were equipped with the older AIM-9G/H Sidewinders. The then new AIM-9L WAS on order, but from a

41 Chris28_17
: B-OTCH, the world WAS there last year. But the rest of the world has moved on, despite the casualties they too suffered, and is getting on with life.

42 GDB
: I don't remember hearing anything about Winston being in jail pre WW2, he was certainly unpopular though! (Maybe he was inside during the Boer War in

43 SAS23
: Rolex 01 - 9 times, and I have an interest in a company in Miami. Chris28_17 - Churchill was captured and imprisoned by the Boers during the Boer War,

44 Lehpron
: Arsenal@LHR: "But i'm sure the US will be there in any future conflicts" Only if there is a profit to be seized, why else does Russia warn The US abou

45 Krushny
: Rai - France's Islamic terrorism problem comes from Algerians; Spain's comes from Moroccans. Both of those are overhangs from their respective coloni

46 LOT767-300ER
: I wouldnt be surprised if its a Cuban company with communist roots. "Rumour has it that the Americans, having been embarassed about being so late for

47 704tangoalpha
: "Rumour has it that the Americans, having been embarassed about being so late for the last two world wars, are doing their utmost to get to the next o

48 Jaysit
: What a load of bunk. The most wonderful thing about the US is the notion of free speech. The last thing we need is someone telling us who or what we c

49 Go Canada!
: " have an interest in a company in Miami. "-sas23 quote on this thread. really? whats it called, i hope it does okay, it would be nice if you had succ